Naruto: None So Blind
by Tiger5913
Summary: He was the boy hated by practically everyone in the entire village, but he had changed her life more than anyone could imagine. ! Mild NaruHina, with other mentioned couples. !


1/27/08

Disclaimer: the characters in this fic such as Hinata, Naruto, etc. don't belong to me, although if they did, Naruto would stop being so oblivious to Hinata's affections for him. (Open your eyes, fox-boy!)

Dedication: God, my parents, my fans, Masashi Kishimoto for creating the Naruto series and giving us these colorful characters, and especially to my beloved friends, especially VGuyver, Andrew Glasco, IndigoSiren, SilverLocke980, Musashi Sanada, TamashiiKitara123, Francisco, Ariescelestial, and all of you other wonderful readers!!

Special dedication to: Francisco and Musashi Sanada, for being supportive and patiently listening to me babble on and on about Naruto these days – I truly have much love for you guys.

**Naruto: None So Blind**

**By Tiger5913**

It was widely known that the Byakugan eyes could see practically everything.

But for Hinata Hyuga, there were certain aspects of her life that she preferred to remain blissfully unaware of.

When she was younger, she did not need the Byakugan to see the leaden disappointment that sagged her father's shoulders at her weaknesses every time she failed to live up to his expectations. She felt the heavy disapproval emanating from him whenever she was in his presence, and she tried to quell the jealousy that flared up inside her at being blatantly passed aside for her little sister. The day that Hinata heard her father dismissing his intentions of her future and handing her off to Kurenai Yuhi as if unloading deadweight, she was so devastated that she thought her heart would cease to beat. To be rejected in such a definitive manner… she felt as if she had been disowned from the family, and in that very instant, what little hope and confidence she had for herself immediately dissipated, all her faith fleeing with the setting sun.

The Hyuga heiress certainly did not need her Byakugan ability to know the depth of the disgust and resentment that her cousin felt toward her family, and essentially, the rest of their clan as well. When they faced each other in the Chunin exam preliminary rounds, he had glared at her with such contempt and dark ferocity as if he sought to burn her right there on the spot, hating their positions and her for simply existing. As she stood trembling under the weight of his intense stare, the genius ninja proceeded to strip her mental state bare, and exposed all her emotional weaknesses and shameful insecurities to their avidly-attentive audience. Every little negative thing she had ever thought about herself, each deficiency that her own father had criticized before, they were being revealed out in the open while so many others watched and silently judged.

Hinata did not need her unique eyes to realize her position in the Genin squad under Kurenai-sensei's guidance – it quickly became apparent that she was, no doubt, the weakest of the three young ninjas. Neither of her teammates ever said anything to indicate so, but it did not change the fact that they constantly had to wait for her to catch up when the group was on a mission, as she usually lagged behind. In a fight, both boys would spend more time protecting her from the enemies rather than concentrate on eliminating the opposition, but surely, one day, they would get tired of her being such a burden on them. On several occasions, Hinata had wondered if she could really succeed as a ninja, and she even considered quitting during a couple of instances, but she so desperately wanted to prove her father wrong, and have him look upon her with pride, if that was ever possible…

There were rare times in which the navy-haired girl wished that she did not possess the all-seeing ability, because it had allowed her to glimpse a sharp gleam of affection in _his_ eyes for another kunoichi. Naruto Uzumaki… the boy she admired for countless years, he had finally returned from a long period of training under the tutelage of one of the legendary three ninjas, and her feelings toward him had grown in his absence. But he… he likely wanted to be with one his teammates, pretty and powerful Sakura Haruno, for the way he looked at her… it was obvious that their bond was precious to him, and perhaps even went beyond friendship. Hinata had heard a few rumors that they liked each other, and might have gone on a couple of dates together, and while she personally never saw any actual romantic gestures between them, it was possible that they were affectionate in private.

Fervent was too weak of a word to truly describe how deeply she wished that Naruto would turn to look her way with the same fondness and admiration shining in his clear blue eyes that she felt for him. Before his return, Hinata had personally sympathized with Sakura, for it was common knowledge that she had strong feelings for her former teammate, Sasuke Uchiha, who left Konoha over two years ago in the pursuit of greater power. The young prodigy was the object of many girls' affections, albeit the Hyuga heiress only had a platonic interest in him, but he treated all the attention with indifference deeming the romantic frenzy insignificant to his cause. Hinata understood how saddened the pink-haired girl must have felt when he left – perhaps Sakura was in love with him, although surely, no one except her best friend would even dare to ask that.

But with Naruto back in town, blazing with his boisterous energy as usual, and the erstwhile Uchiha genius still gone, it was possible for a chance of heart to take place, and feelings could shift over to another close friend. As much as she adored her crush and wanted to be with him, Hinata would never wish that he refrained from finding happiness and an end to solitude, even if it meant he might turn a girl that was someone else instead of her. It was rather embarrassing that everyone seemed to know how she felt about the hyperactive blond, except for Naruto himself, and briefly, she wondered if he remained alarmingly oblivious as a natural innate trait, or on purpose. At the very least, he knew that Hinata existed, and she was surprised how quickly and easily he recognized her after the two-and-a-half-year separation, and of course, she just _had_ to faint in his presence, like she did before in the past…

Occasionally, she found herself wondering if the other girls in the village had difficulty expressing their interests in the boys that they liked, but she doubted that anyone else's case was as severe as hers. There were a couple of similarities between her situation, and the one that Sakura was in with Sasuke, but her best friend, a pretty and slender blonde that worked in her family's flower shop, **she** hardly ever seemed to lack attention from the opposite gender. However, she paid them scarce attention, and it became apparent that she liked the genius from the Nara clan, who seemed to reciprocate her feelings, despite his constant groaning and complaining about how troublesome she was. When they were not training together, Hinata had noticed that her cousin spent most of his time with one of his teammates, Tenten, a fiery kunoichi that often praised Neji for his talent, and the Hyuga heiress thought it possible that the two would soon become involved with each other, if they were not already.

If Naruto had no clue, not even a single inkling, about the way she felt toward him, then he was likely also unaware of the light and hope that he brought to her life, or how much she had changed because of him. He clearly acknowledged and cheered very loudly for her during the Chunin preliminary match when she fought against her cousin, and with just his words alone, the distraught girl had been lifted up and out of her drowning, sinking pool of weak and uncertain self-doubt. With his eyes intently watching her, she tried her hardest to defeat Neji, pushing herself to the brink of exhaustion, but he eventually overpowered her, and the only evidence of her efforts was the blood that she coughed out onto the floor. What happened after that truly shocked her: Naruto had bent down to dip his fingers into the small dark puddle of her life's vitality, and then he stood up to face Neji, vowing to emerge victorious in the next stage of the exams.

When she recovered from the effects of the arduous match, the dark-haired girl struggled to work up the courage to seek out the cheerful loud blond and thank him for all the support and strength that he had given her. He had seen her during one of her weakest and most pitiful moments, and yet, he did not show any distaste toward her, unlike the blatant condemnation that she received from both her stern father and her unyielding cousin. Someone else actually believed in her, had faith of her ability to persevere in the face of difficult adversity, and to have it coming from the one person that she admired the most… how could she even think of faltering under his attentive gaze? Hinata heard, rather than saw, that Naruto had defeated her cousin in the final rounds of the Chunin exam, shocking and surprising everyone, and if he could trump a genius with so many odds stacked against him, then she had to improve as well, until she could hold her own.

It was largely due to Naruto's influence that Neji finally began to let go of his hatred for the main branch of the Hyuga clan, and maybe one day, they could all get along and break down the invisible barriers to be a real family… or so she hoped.

Hinata knew that she had gotten stronger over the last three years from the extensive training with her cousin, and her father had actually indicated that he was aware of her recent hard-earned achievements. She longed to tell Naruto about how greatly he had affected her life and changed her for the better, but she still felt incredibly anxious and timid around him, customarily stammering and fumbling her speech when he was close by. When the soft-spoken girl found out that she had been assigned to the same team as the energetic blond to embark on a new important mission, she realized that this could be her best chance to show him her improvement. Surely, Naruto would notice her advanced abilities and be awestruck at how powerful she was now, and Hinata wanted his admiration and approval more than anything, even acceptance and acknowledgement from her father.

Her exclusive eyes brought her a tremendous amount of invaluable assistance and information, and only rarely did she wish that they were non-existent; she would achieve many of her goals in life with them. Because the blue-haired girl had long since surpassed her younger sister in both strength and technique, her father had began to show his support in her, and she was also getting along with her cousin much better than before. All that remained was her desire for Naruto to see her – to truly acknowledge and admire her in entirety – and just as she attained her other dreams, Hinata was hopeful that one day, he would finally focus his attention on her. For his bright blue eyes to sparkle with affection and his wide grin of pleasure to spread across his face because of her… and how she yearned to feel his strong hand curling around hers, and walking alongside him as they went out to eat ramen together, his favorite food.

He had been alone for so much of his life, rejected by the other villagers for a reason that she did not know about until recently, and she wanted to help him bring that lengthy period of stifling solitude to an end, if he would let her. In spite of everyone's belief that he was scarcely more than an incompetent and thoroughly mischievous little troublemaker, a failure who had no potential, she knew that he was really none of those things, and he had the capability of realizing great success. His ultimate dream was to become the Hokage of Konoha in the future, and Hinata felt certain that he would be, one day, whenever Lady Tsunade decided to take her leave, although most likely, that would quite a while before it actually happened. The shy girl had watched him for a long time during their years at the ninja academy, and noticed how hard he trained and all the progress he had made, but he was so engrossed in the process that he seemed thoroughly oblivious to her presence.

Most people saw Hinata as a very shy and overly timid girl that might even jump at the sight of her own shadow, but her closest companions knew about her sweet and sensitive nature, and her passionate intentions of striving toward change. Kurenai-sensei had been wonderfully kind and supportive for numerous years since the beginning, while the two boys of Team 8 were always so patient with the Hyuga heiress, and she was grateful for all the help from her trustworthy allies. Her family relationships had improved around the same time after she started to get stronger, and she was slowly growing confident in her own abilities; her Byakugan eyes could not see into the future, but regardless of the unknown, she would make her father proud. Hinata was fated to eventually become the head of her clan, and she had to be powerful, respectful, and wise in order to best lead all the members, but secretly, she wondered if she could make some changes that would better each of their lives.

For now, she had to concentrate on the current mission at hand, and do her part to help her allies by using her eyes and other unique abilities to work together with everyone else toward a successful outcome.

"Naruto… we can do it," she assured the momentarily-pensive blond when she caught a flicker of uncertainty pass by his expression from the tense situation; she knew how important and personal the present mission was to him, and had an idea of what it meant.

Naruto lifted his head after she spoke the words of encouragement, and then he turned to glance her way with a familiar fire of determination coming to life in his sky-blue eyes as he beamed a wide grin of hope and confidence right at her.

The cheerful gesture alone was enough to send a fluttering sensation to lift up her own spirits, and when he grabbed her hand just then to enthusiastically tug her forward along with him, she maintained her composure and managed not to faint this time. _Naruto… I'll do my best._

**The End**

**Author's Note:** Squee…! Forgive my odd mixture of excitement and timidity, but this is my first Naruto fic, and I am both happy and nervous at the same time, hehe. Erm, I do hope that this was a decent first attempt, because if I made any of you readers run for the hills in horror, then I am truly shamefaced. o.o Don't mind me; I'm just a little nervous about entering a new fandom, especially one that is as well-established as Naruto. Well then, on that cheerful and clearly optimistic note, I would like to thank you all for reading my first Naruto fic, and if you have any suggestions for improvement of future Naruto stories, I certainly encourage those kinds of comments, aside from the usual kind and generous praises. Please leave a review with your feedback, and let me know what you think of this story!

**With love for my fans,**

**Tiger5913**


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